Hornet Alum-inaries

Fred Amey (Economics)

Amey follows faith to football stardom

They each represented the Hornets in different sports but former athletes Otis Amey, LaVerne Simmons-Barnett, Bill Barker and Blake Crosby all have one thing in common: they all wore the number 10 at Sacramento State.

Former Hornet, San Francisco 49er and Canadian League wide receiver (Fred) Otis Amey proclaims that the number 10 is the greatest number in sports.

“I did some research on the number 10 and because of my faith I looked to the Bible,” he says. “Every number has a meaning in the Bible and the number 10 represents a full completion. So every time I caught a pass I was making a full completion and that’s my number.”

And he made a lot of completions. Amy holds nearly every receiving record in Sac State history. The two-time All-American and three-time first team all-Big Sky Conference selection set school records in career yards, receptions and touchdowns. His 17 career 100-yard games are 10 more than any other Hornet and he landed the single-game record with 15 receptions at Eastern Washington in 2004.

Amey always envisioned a post-college football career and says he would always tell himself, “One day I’m going to play in the NFL.” In fact, as a young kid he used to practice his autograph and pass it around to fellow students on the playground.

Even though that dream became a reality, Amey still can’t believe that he played for the 49ers. Coming out of Sac State as a free agent, he had to beat out quite a few draft picks and was the 11th wide receiver on the roster.

“I still remember the first game I ever played in, it was on 9/11 and sold out,” says Amey. “They asked me right before the game to be the starting punt returner and the very first time I touched the ball I ran it back for a 75-yard touchdown against the Rams.”

Amey went on to play in the CFL, the Arena League and returned to Hornet Stadium as a member of the United Football League’s Sacramento Mountain Lions. He is currently on the roster of the Cleveland Gladiators in the Arena League.

This article was originally published in theSpring 20013 edition of Sac State Magazine.